Winter seemed never ending this year! So what did we do? We made MORE soup! While we were on a trip to the coast I had the most amazing soup at McMeniman’s Sand Trap at their Gearhart Hotel. So, I came home and set to recreating it. The re-creation is so close I feel like I’m back in front of the fire enjoying their soup and a cocktail!

While this started as a traditional Broccoli Cheddar soup, like so many other recipes it morphed into something more, Veggie Cheddar Bisque or soup – your choice. I just love the word bisque 😀

Now to be clear the definition of soup is “a liquid food especially with a meat, fish, or vegetable stock as a base and often containing pieces of solid food” while the definition of bisque is “ a cream soup of pureed vegetables“. So, to be a true bisque you really need to puree ALL the vegetables.

Making this recipe as individual pies you can taste the homemade pastry and rich cheddar flavored sauce in EVERY bite. You can make this as rustic or as elegant as you’d like by cutting the crust into cute little decorative shapes or leave it as a single layer. We like to invert the individual pies so the crust is on the bottom absorbing all the yummy gravy.

It’s cold, wet and windy up here in the Pacific Northwest as a series of winter storms have been moving through one after another. It’s the kind of weather that wants to make you turn over, pull the covers over your head and go back to sleep – the kind of weather that makes me crave serious comfort food. One of our favorite comfort foods for this weather is Cowboy Beans. The best thing about this recipe is that it cooks ALL day in the slow cooker and the aroma makes the house smell cozy and homey. BE SURE AND SOAK YOUR BEANS OVERNIGHT THE DAY BEFORE YOU WANT TO MAKE THIS RECIPE.

As this recipe cooks your beans will start absorbing the flavor AND the color. They actually become more and more tasty in the days that follow. I usually make BEER Bread with this and it’s a HUGE hit.

This recipe is rich tasting, but is actually light and delicate. It makes a WONDERFUL dish for serving to company. Tastes like your worked on it ALL day. I used to make this stew from my great grandmother’s ALL day recipe, but have streamlined it for a quick meal. I also added the dumplings to replace the noodles she would use.

When I went to bed last night it was a balmy 73 degrees. As I lay there watching the news I was astounded that the weatherman said today’s high would be 46 with wind and rain. Actually I didn’t believe him, but lo and behold I woke to thunder, rain, wind and 46 degrees.

That’s when I decided it was time to pull the Honey Baked Ham bone out of the freezer and make some split pea soup for dinner. We’ll probably split a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it.

I’ve been making this recipe exactly the same way for over 20 years. It’s that good – needs no updating. It’s smooth, creamy, chunky, slightly sweet and savory too! The beer gives it a pungent punch too.

I wrote and prepped this recipe and then forgot to post it so last night refers to last Sunday LOL 🙂

In a large stock pot, bring ham bone* & water to a boil. Boil until the meat is falling off the bone, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours)

Remove the bone and let cool enough so you can cut the meat off the bone. You should have about 8 cups water left.

In the mean time add the carrots, celery, onion (4 cups total) and seasonings to the water and return to a SLOW boil for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

While the vegetables are boiling, rinse the peas and pick out any bad ones.

Cut the ham pieces off the bone. Refrigerate the ham pieces and discard the bone.

After the vegetables have cooked 45 minutes or until tender, add the peas and barley, cooking for another 1-1 1/2 hours or until peas are tender.

Add the beer and ham pieces back in and cook another 30-45 minutes.

NOTE*: I always save my honey baked ham bones after the meat is all cut off. I then freeze them and save them for future soups. I always get at least 2 cups of meat off when I boil the bone.

This makes a huge batch and I always freeze it in several batches (3-4) for future easy weeknight meals. We usually pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich.

TODAY’S TRIVIA as heard by hubby on an old game show – Campbell’s soup used to fill the bottom of the bowl with marbles so the vegetables would be at the top giving the appearance of more vegetables in each bowl of soup. That trick was not done here – what you see is what you get.

I think I’m almost down to 2½ sides…and I’m FINALLY taking back my life… actually CHASING MY LIFE.

IT IS WHAT IT IS!

I'll ALWAYS be 3 Sides of Crazy cooking in OUR Krazy Kitchen at my Savory Kitchen Table and ALWAYS Eating on the Good China but counting down to normal ~ WHATEVER THAT IS!

I love to cook, read, write, quilt, craft, go antiquing, amateur photography and to learn new things. I’m a Jill of many trades & always have more interests and desires than I have time. LOL I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I love being a homemaker and keeping my family healthy and happy.

As a Christian woman I believe life is all about change and that learning to cope with it as it happens will help you through life. I believe in Murphy’s Law, the Domino Effect, Payback’s a Bitch, and Karma. I also believe that Pay It Forward and living by the Golden Rule go a long way to keep the former from happening to begin with. I believe everything happens for a reason and that life is one big adventure.

I try to see life through rose colored glasses and be as tolerant as possible. My glass is always half full. I am an optimist, extremely positive minded and usually a really upbeat person so anything goes within reason.

I especially love to cook and develop new recipes. I have written a couple of cookbooks for family reunions that I’m working on getting published and have new cook books in the works.